James Foley's Parents Could Have Been Prosecuted for Ransom Fundraising

The parents of James Foley, a journalist beheaded by the Islamic State, have been telling multiple news agencies that federal officials threatened them with prosecution if they tried to raise money for his ransom.

They were also kept in the dark about what the U.S. government was doing to try and save Foley, they said.

"It's always your son's situation is the highest priority we're doing everything we possibly can, but we can't tell you," Foley's father, John Foley, said, according to a Friday report from WMUR-TV, an ABC affiliate in New Hampshire.

The family has made similar statements to other media, including to CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday night.

Now the couple wants to help other families of American hostages and American journalists reporting from conflict zones and promote education for urban youth. They announced the James W. Foley Legacy Fund on Friday, as well.

Before killing James, ISIS demanded a ransom sum of about $132.5 million from the family and the GlobalPost, according to The Wall Street Journal.

During the 19 months of James' kidnapping, his parents said they felt alone. They added that they ignored the threats of prosecution related to the ransom.

"We couldn't do nothing," his father said. "If they weren't going to rescue them, they couldn't get him home, what do you do? Leave your kid in the jail to get beaten? No way."

James' mother, though, said she "naively thought" the government would handle the situation and bring her son home. That belief delayed their fundraising efforts, she said.

The U.S. government unsuccessfully < a href="http://mashable.com/2014/08/20/failed-foley-rescue/">tried to rescue James and other hostages in July.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday that "it is a long standing policy of this administration, it was the policy of previous administrations that ransoms should not be paid to terrorist organizations,” according to ABC News.

For information about their new efforts, visit The James W. Foley Legacy Fund's website or write to The James W. Foley Legacy Fund, P.O. Box 1678, Rochester, NH 03867.

"We hope that Jim's life will be a turning point we hope we could at least have a dialogue," Diane said.

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